Need to use reasonable antibiotics

Antibiotics are a substance used to inhibit bacterial growth or kill bacteria at low concentrations. Antibiotics are used in the treatment of infectious diseases or preventive treatment of diseases that can cause epidemics or prophylaxis in surgeries to prevent hospital infections.

Why is there drug resistance?

Antibiotics culture plate
(Photo: TTO)

Bacteria increasingly tend to resist antibiotics. There are species resistant to many antibiotics, it is called multi-drug resistance such as bacteria S.aureus, P. aeruginosa, E.coli .

Bacteria resistant to antibiotics can be either genetically or plasmid and due to inadequate, inadequate and improper use of antibiotics that are susceptible to bacteria.

Measures to limit bacterial resistance

To limit the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotics should be used reasonably, so follow some of the following principles:

- Only use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections (do not use antibiotics to treat viral diseases; For fungi, there are antibiotics used exclusively for them).

- From the beginning, only antibiotics with narrow spectrum should be used.

- In any medical facility that has conditions to make antibiotic resistance, it is recommended to rely on the results of antibiotic resistance to select antibiotics to suit each species of bacteria causing each type of disease.

- When you have chosen antibiotics, you must use enough doses and time. If they do not comply, the disease will not only disappear but will also make the bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

- Always place sterile and sterile stitches on top to limit the spread of pathogens including resistant bacteria.

- Each medical facility should have close monitoring of antibiotic resistance of bacteria. Monitoring program should be conducted regularly and for each department and department.

Methods of selecting antibiotics

- Choose narrow spectrum antibiotics.

- Based on the pharmacokinetic properties and characteristics of each drug.

- Based on availability and economy (cheap) to create conditions to help patients easily buy drugs for immediate use.

Should we combine antibiotics?

The types of infections that have many species of bacteria and contracting diseases such as multiple injuries, osteomyelitis and tuberculosis should be combined with antibiotics. For multidrug-resistant bacteria, it is necessary to combine antibiotics.

When combining antibiotics, it should be noted:

- Coordination must be true, no adverse interaction.

- The ability to comply with the orders of patients is high: The number of times of using drugs in the day is low, the ability to pay the lowest is the best way to put drugs into the body.

- Need to guide patients to use the right medicine: Use before eating or after eating, injecting (intramuscularly or intravenously) or drinking .

Choose according to the antibiotic

Antibiotic is a technique to determine the sensitivity (or resistance) of each bacterial species to each type of antibiotic. Through antibiotic results, physicians can choose the appropriate antibiotic for treatment, especially quantitative antibiotic, to tell us the appropriate dose to treat the pathogen that we already know. before.

Assoc. Dr. BUI KHAC HAU (Hanoi Medical University)